Simply Happy
by princessphilomena
Summary: A look at the birthdays of the AA cast and how even the most simple moments can turn into the best ones with their favourite people. Some family, friendship, pairings and just some simply happy moments. Click for table of contents of all one-shots.
1. The Baking Show of Justice

**Table of Contents**

**Chapter 1** - _The Baking Show of Justice _(Apollo and Trucy)

**Chapter 2** - _Cinderella_ (young Edgeworth and Franziska)

**Chapter 3** - _Papa _(Phoenix and Trucy)

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Some people search far and wide for a little happiness, but it's often much closer and simpler than they think. A collection of one-shots looking at the birthdays of the Ace Attorney characters, and how even the most simple moments can turn into the best ones with their favourite people. Some family, some friendship, some pairings, and just happy moments.

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**Author Notes:**

I had a lot of fun writing this, and I got the chance to write a lot of characters that I've never written before. I hope it turned out well enough, and if anyone has any suggestions or requests, feel free to let me know. Hopefully, you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.**  
**

Most importantly, this is a birthday present for my sister _madscientists_. I hope you like it :) Happy Birthday!

Oh, and _Apollo Justice_ spoilers are in this one-shot.

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**The Baking Show of Justice**

Apollo really didn't know why he let his little sister bully him around.

From the moment her eyes lit up with the idea, he knew that things would not end well for him. If only he had never let her know about his uncanny talent for making desserts, she would not have insisted on filming his own "Baking Show of Justice." And the name wasn't the worst part. Oh no. Apparently, the only apron in the Wright household had frilly edges and matched Trucy's panties.

Apollo didn't know why he agreed. But Trucy looked at him with those wide eyes, "Oh pleeeease, Polly? It'll be your birthday present to me!" and he felt like he couldn't refuse. And it _was _her birthday, after all.

"Okay, Apollo," she directed. "You prepare the ingredients and I'll write the script. And I need your phone."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Daddy's too poor to buy us a camera, so we'll have to use the one on your phone."

"Do we have to film this?"

"You promised, Apollo," she pouted and glared at him, a combination that made him wither and hand over his cell phone reluctantly.

Trucy left the room and returned ten minutes later with the script; Apollo could swear that it was written on the back of his case file, but before he could object, he noticed what else Trucy was holding.

"What is that?" he asked slowly.

"Oh, just makeup," she replied nonchalantly.

He was going to regret asking. "Why?"

"Well, you can't be a YouTube star without makeup, can you?"

"What? YouTube? I never agreed to that!" Apollo protested loudly, backing away.

"But it was a package deal. The makeup and YouTube part was just written in the fine print."

"What fine print? You never even wrote me a contract!"

"Fine, you wussy. I'll take out the makeup, but you're still going on YouTube."

Apollo sighed, knowing that it was the best compromise he would get. Maybe if he just kept looking down, no one would see his face and recognize him. He nodded grudgingly and Trucy handed him the script, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh! One last thing before we start filming, Polly. You have to hold down the lid of the blender because the latch to lock it in place is broken."

_Is __**everything**__ in this house broken?_ "Don't worry. I'll remember that."

"Alright, Apollo, get ready! Three, two, one…ACTION!"

"Hello everyone," he read awkwardly. "Welcome to the Baking Show of Justice where I, Apollo Justice, will teach you how to make delicious desserts."

"You have to look at the camera some more," Trucy hissed, "and speak louder. And how do you zoom on this thing – wait, I got it." She fiddled with Apollo's phone and gestured for him to continue.

"To make today's dessert, you will need the following ingredients: eggs of evidence," he looked at Trucy. "What?"

"Just read the script, Apollo!"

With a skeptical look, he returned to his sheet of paper. "Cocoa of court law, bailiff's butter – Trucy, I need _margarine_!"

She waved her hand dismissively. "We don't have margarine since butter's cheaper. Besides, they're the same thing anyways."

Apollo sighed and continued. "Some guilty ginger, Charley's chocolate powder -"

"That's _Mr_ Charley to you! He's been here longer!" Trucy interjected.

Apollo knew that it was futile to point out that she had not written _Mr _Charley on the script. He corrected himself and managed to continue through the ingredients list with no more interruptions. Trucy nodded her approval as he began mixing the ingredients – in what he believed to be a huge stroke of luck, there was no hole in the bag of flour like last time, an incident that left him sweeping and showering for days. _Maybe this wasn't an altogether awful idea_, he thought to himself as he beat the eggs. Of course, he had yet to use the blender, the part that made him the most nervous.

The blender was awfully loud, and the blades always seemed to spin dangerously out of control. He nervously lifted his bowl of eggs and poured it in on the bananas.

"Once you have put all the ingredients in the blender, turn it on medium speed." He pressed the button gingerly. Nothing happened. He blinked, confused, and tried putting it on high. Still nothing. He turned to give Trucy a bewildered _what now?_ look.

She tapped her chin with her free hand as she thought and moments later, she strode towards the outlet.

"We forgot to plug it in," she announced triumphantly, picking up the end of the plug.

"Trucy, wait –"

Too late. The circuit connected before Apollo's hand returned to the lid, and a litre of bananas, ice cream and mushed up unidentifiable ingredients exploded out of the blender and onto Apollo's face.

He and Trucy stood there in stunned silence as Apollo slowly lifted his hand to wipe the gunk from his eyes. He might have yelled "Objection!" had he not been so shocked that the word seemed to be stuck at the back of his throat. Finally, the silence grew unbearable for Trucy.

"…At least you didn't get whacked in the nose by the flying lid, right?" A giggle escaped her, and in a moment, she had doubled over with laughter.

Apollo, despite himself, burst out laughing too. Even though he was covered in disgusting goop, would probably be cleaning for weeks, and had been caught on camera on top of it all, he couldn't be mad at his little sister.

"Wow, Apollo," she giggled. "I don't think you need to get me a birthday present for the next ten years. I'll just watch this again."

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"I never knew that you could make desserts, Apollo," Phoenix commented casually at the dinner table.

Apollo choked on his potato. "You saw that?"

"Yeah…I'd say it probably has about two thousand views by now."

"What?" Bewildered, Apollo turned to Trucy. "You still put that on the internet? Even with that…incident?"

"Of course I did, Polly. You should be thanking me – you're practically famous now. I mean, who wouldn't want to watch _Defence Attorney Defeated by Exploding Blender_?"

Apollo moaned as Trucy and Phoenix started laughing. "No one will ever hire me again."


	2. Cinderella

**Note: **_Justice for All _spoilers are up ahead.

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**Cinderella**

Miles cringed as his mentor's voice echoed loudly down the hall.

"How dare you soil the von Karma name with this pathetic excuse of an exam?" Though the words were not directed at him, Miles still felt their burning sting.

He heard Manfred's angry footsteps pound down the stairs, followed by the deafening slam of the door and revving of the car engine. He knew that his mentor would not be back until the next day; after so many years of Manfred's explosive fits of anger, Miles had almost grown used to it.

He crept down the silent hall to Franziska's room, gently pushing the door open. She was sitting on her bed with her back to him, her little shoulders shaking.

"Franziska?"

Surprised, she jerked around to look at him, then turned back around just as quickly. "Go away, Miles Edgeworth!" she cried hotly. She hated it when he caught her crying. At a mere ten years of age, she was already as proud as he was.

He took the tissue box from her bedside table and held it out to her, but she pushed his hand away and strode angrily to her desk. Grabbing her study notes and books, she began tearing them up furiously.

"Useless, useless garbage!" she screamed as she threw the shreds to the ground.

Miles grabbed her arm. "Calm down, Franziska," he commanded, but she shook his hand off with surprising force as she grabbed more of her books.

"Worthless trash! Why do you even exist?" she whipped her things fiercely to the ground as the hot tears ran down her face.

"Franziska! Calm down!" Miles yelled at her more loudly this time, grabbing her in a strong bear hug.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, thrashing as she tried to fight his strong grip, still crying. He restrained her as she pushed fiercely against his arms, and he felt the fight drain out of her slowly. Finally, she slid to the ground, sobbing and shaking all over.

"Useless garbage," she cried. "That's what Papa thinks I am."

He offered her a tissue, unsure of what to say. He had never been very good at comforting people. "You know he just wants you to succeed."

"But I can't," she said as a fresh stream of tears leaked down her cheeks. "I can't because I _am_ useless."

Miles was dumbfounded to hear those words coming out of Franziska's mouth. The usually competitive and proud Franziska, the little girl who was always so determined to beat him had somehow been reduced to this by the harsh words of her father.

"You're not useless, Franziska. I think you're quite bright," he offered awkwardly, not used to giving compliments.

Franziska said nothing, but simply sat there quietly, sniffling occasionally as she took in his words and calmed down. After several long minutes – during which Miles was almost writhing in embarrassment at how his sentimental words hung in the air – she finally wiped her eyes and spoke.

"You only think I'm bright because you're a foolish fool, Miles Edgeworth." She blew her nose. "And I'm still going to defeat you in becoming a prosecutor first."

A ghost of a smile touched Miles' lips. "So you're not going to stop studying this 'useless garbage'?"

"I never said that I would stop studying," Franziska denied stubbornly, but after a pause, she anxiously added, "But now I have to tell Papa that I need to replace my books."

_Maybe you should have thought about that before tearing them up_, he sighed to himself at her rash temper. "I'll take you out to buy new ones. While we're there, we can also celebrate your birthday before your father gets back."

She looked at him, surprised, having forgotten the date. "Oh," she said quietly. "It _is_ my birthday."

He waited patiently as she went to wash her face and he obligingly copied down the titles of the books she had torn up. When she was ready, they walked out to the shopping district together and she refused to hold his hand when he told her that he'd lose her in the crowds. "I'm not a little child!" she had responded indignantly, but she reluctantly agreed after she spent twenty minutes looking for him in a huge store filled with people.

He took her for ice cream, and though she secretly wanted three scoops on a sugar cone, she chose the single scoop in a bowl because she didn't want ice cream all over her face in public. Miles watched her eyes follow a little girl's triple scoop cone enviously, and he chuckled inwardly at how proud she was.

As the walked home, he felt her walking slow down as they passed a jewellery store. "Wait, Miles," she couldn't help but say as she peered into the display case.

"You like that necklace, don't you?" he smiled lightly. It was a delicate pink heart encircled by tiny white jewels and dangling from a thin silver chain. Manfred had never indulged his daughter in such things, never realising how much he had deprived her of being a little girl.

"I have no need for such foolish little items," she said airily, but her eyes darted back to the delightful piece of jewellery.

Miles shook his head to himself amusedly and pulled her inside the store. "I would like to purchase the necklace you have on display outside," he told the man behind the counter.

Franziska watched wide-eyed as he reached inside the glass counter and brought out the necklace in a matching pink box. She had never owned something so delicate and exquisite, and her little cheeks flushed with excitement at the thought of it being hers.

"Happy birthday, Franziska," Miles handed her the box.

"I told you I don't need such things," she said stubbornly. "But since you bought it for me, I'll wear it so as to not wound your pride." She fingered the little box. "Thank you," she added stiffly.

Miles smiled. She was so obstinate and proud, and though she refused to admit how much she liked it, he saw the care with which she put on the necklace and the way she fingered it affectionately as they walked home.

Franziska would never confess to her foolish little fancy, but she felt like a princess with that necklace adorned around her neck. It had transformed her into Cinderella, and for that single afternoon, she forgot the pressure of being perfect with the "glass slipper" that was her necklace and holding the hand of her own foolish prince, Miles Edgeworth.

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**Notes:**

I've always believed that Edgeworth was more important to Franziska than her father was. After all, in JFA, her "revenge" has nothing to do with her father's death, but of her desire to prove herself to Edgeworth.

I know that it was strange for Franziska to call herself useless, but at the end of JFA, she says to Edgeworth, "My father was a genius...I'm no genius. I've always known that. But I had to be one. I had to." Manfred may have come across as awfully harsh in this one-shot, but I thought that was the only way to build up Franziska's immense pressure to be perfect.

Do remember that Franziska is only 10 here, and as mature as she may try to be, she is still a little girl. The harsh words from her father really break her down, but she still has a childish naïveté that allows her to believe Edgeworth's brief words of encouragement and calm down. Edgeworth, though probably not the best person to take care of children, looks after this "little sister" of his because he sees part of himself in her, and because he knows how much she needs him.

I'm going to stop ranting - I just hope these two were in character enough for their age.


	3. Papa

**Note:** _Apollo Justice_ spoilers up ahead.

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**Papa**

At a loss for what to do to pass the sudden spare time he had on his hands, Phoenix turned to cleaning. He could manage to go through his files stoically for a while, but then he would stumble upon one of his memorable cases, and he would just sit there, reading it and remembering the brilliant defence attorney he once was. All those people he saved, all those criminals he put behind bars…all that was in the past now.

"Daddy?" His thoughts were interrupted by the tiny figure in the doorway. Even a month after her arrival, he still wasn't used to having a daughter.

"Hey Trucy," he smiled awkwardly, trying to fit into his dad role. "Um…what's up?" _'What's up'? Why did I just say that? Now she probably thinks I'm an idiot._

Trucy skipped over the scattered books and papers to sit on a stack of dictionaries. "Well, daddy, I was wondering if we could do something special today."

"Sure! What do you have in mind?"

"Well…" Trucy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "My other daddy used to take me to the circus on my birthday…"

"Oh! Is it your birthday today?" _What kind of dad are you, Phoenix?_ "I'm sorry…I didn't know," he scratched his neck, embarrassed.

"It's okay, daddy!" Trucy responded cheerfully. "And you don't need to get me a present because I know we don't have much money."

"Aw, no, Trucy, we have to celebrate your birthday somehow. I know there's a little carnival in the parking lot behind the mall. It's not as great as a circus, but I think it's all we can afford for now," he added sheepishly. "And if you see something that you want, just tell me, okay?"

"Okay!" she beamed happily. "Thanks, daddy!"

Hand in hand, they took the bus to the carnival, at the sight of which Trucy's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Look, daddy! The Ferris wheel!" Delighted, she pulled him through the park on one ride after another, giggling with glee. By the end of the day, her face was covered with cotton candy, and as Phoenix tried to wipe it off with a wet wipe the mother beside him had kindly offered, Trucy was chattering excitedly.

"Daddy, can we go on the Ferris wheel one more time?" she begged.

"Whew. Daddy's kind of pooped, Trucy. But what if you go by yourself while I wait here? I'll wave to you when I see you up there." He reached into his pocket for some money. "Be careful," he warned, taking her hat so she wouldn't lose it. "Remember to scream really loudly if you don't feel safe, and I'll come and get you, okay?"

Trucy bobbed her head and skipped off happily.

"Your daughter's adorable," smiled the woman next to Phoenix.

He felt an unexpected pride swell up in him. "Thank you."

"Is she…yours?" the woman asked hesitantly. "You look very young."

_I traded in my attorney's badge and got a daughter in return._ "I adopted her," he simplified.

"Oh," the woman smiled. "You must love her to bits. Enjoy her – she'll grow up so quickly."

"I will."

Trucy returned shortly after the woman had left, her hair windblown and her cheeks flushed red.

"Did you have fun?" Phoenix offered her their water bottle and she gulped down the liquid greedily.

"It was even better the second time! I waved to you at the top, but you didn't see me," she said between gulps.

"Oops, sorry…I was talking to the lady beside me. She said you're adorable, and I completely agree," he ruffled her hair affectionately. "You still haven't told me what you want for you birthday," he added.

"Oh, it's okay, daddy, I already got it. I just wanted to spend a day with you," Trucy smiled shyly. "You're always busy cleaning your office…I thought you didn't like me at first…" her voice grew quiet as she trailed off.

He rebuked himself inwardly. _Great father you are, Phoenix._ "I'm so sorry, Trucy…I'm still getting used to being a dad, and I guess I'm not very good at it."

"That's not true, daddy!" she shook her head fiercely. "I think you're the best."

"I guess I have a lot to live up to," he laughed. "I promise I'll spend more time with you from now on…you're my little girl, after all."

Phoenix Wright had dreamt of being a defence attorney for most of his childhood. Never once did he imagine that he would lose his dream in the way he did. He suddenly had a little girl to take care of, and he was reluctant at first, feeling a slight grudge towards the child who had taken his old life away. But if he were given the choice again, he would still trade anything for the bundle of happiness that was his little girl, and her brilliant smile that lit up his world.

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**Notes:**

I can't help but think that Phoenix felt a little bitter towards Trucy at first - though it wasn't her fault, he lost his job, career and lifelong dream and ended up with her instead. I guess that this one-shot is of their first real bonding moment; I feel like Phoenix subconsciously avoided her for a while because she represented everything he had lost. Now he knows the simple things that make her happy, and has realised that he's more important to her than he had originally thought.


End file.
